South Sudanese refugees release 16 U.N staff members

April 18, 2017 (KINSHASA) – 16 United Nation staff members, initially taken hostage by unarmed South Sudanese refugees at a camp in eastern Congo (DRC) have been released unarmed.

A civilian talks to peacekeepers serving in the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Kinshasa, April 10, 2017 (UN)

The U.N, in a statement issued Tuesday, said South Sudanese refugees took 13 of its staff members hostage and demanded that they be relocated to another country to avoid their forced return to South Sudan.

"All staff have returned safely to their homes," noted the statement.

"No casualties have been reported. The mission is investigating the incident,” it added.

According to the U.N, the South Sudanese refugees are among a group of 530 who had fled the country last year and have been staying at the U.N. camp in Munigi, north of the provincial capital Goma.

The majority of those who fled were part of the armed opposition faction loyal to South Sudan rebel leader, Riek Machar, who fled the country when clashed occurred with pro-government forces in Juba last year.

The former SPLA-IO fighters want to be transported to Uganda, Kenya or Ethiopia but the three countries declined to receive them.

Civil war broke out in South Sudan in December 2013 when forces allied to President Salva Kiir clashed with those loyal to his former deputy, Machar. Tens of thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced in South Sudan’s worst violence since it attained independence from Sudan.

(ST)

Comments on the Sudan Tribune website must abide by the following rules. Contravention of these rules will lead to the user losing their Sudan Tribune account with immediate effect.

- No inciting violence
- No inappropriate or offensive language
- No racism, tribalism or sectarianism
- No inappropriate or derogatory remarks
- No deviation from the topic of the article
- No advertising, spamming or links
- No incomprehensible comments

Due to the unprecedented amount of racist and offensive language on the site, Sudan Tribune tries to vet all comments on the site.

There is now also a limit of 400 words per comment. If you want to express yourself in more detail than this allows, please e-mail your comment as an article to comment@sudantribune.com

Kind regards,

The Sudan Tribune editorial team.

19 April 09:32, by Kush Natives

If those rebels are not damply idiots, why would they want to be transported to Kenya, Uganda, and Ethiopia? The rebels thought that the damaged that they have done to RoSS is just simple as that? We sealed all routes and any available sanctuaries that will likely save any unlawful individuals that are up to the destabilization of RoSS in any dimensions. The government is out of patience!

Yeah! Our lawless Nuers are exporting their usual messy lifestyles to foreign countries! Even those countries like Uganda, Kenya or ethiopia won’t be taking the unruly souls like you idiots. You are asked to abandoned your aimless armed rebellion. But are letting yourselves being used by the US, the UK, their UN and their creepy NGOs and spies to fight their proxy war in our country>>>

mainly to come and plunder our country like they are now doing in Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Eastern Congo, CAR, Ukraine, Yemen or Syria. And you fools keep calling your sorry aimless armed rebellion freedom fighting force----freedom from who you idiots?

Kush Negative,
You are out off mind, those 530 soldiers are special forces who overrun J1 in July last year. your drunk bearded dad need to know that very soon those special forces will overrun Lurri your big dad farm.

And what are they doing in Congo mister, in the UN compound disarmed? Moving away from the so-called UN compound in Juba to another so-called UN compound in Eastern Congo? To over run Luri? What do you smoke chap?

Response to Bona Malual statements on Abyei 2017-12-11 20:24:24
By Hon Arop Madut Arop
As I was reading the last proof of my new book on the Ngok Dinka history, which is currently with the printers, somebody sent me a recorded voice message purportedly given (...)